OpenVPN TCP vs UDP

[Ben Scott]

On 7/12/07, Thomas Charron <twaffle at gmail.com> wrote:
>   But from a practical standpoint, it only *really* makes a difference
> when you have massive packet loss on a link.

  I've seen other real-world reports where switching from TCP to UDP
apparently made a difference.  I'm not sure "massive packet loss" is
an accurate description of all possible causes.  Especially given the
amount of variation you see on the Internet.  It wouldn't surprise me
if this was dependent on the TCP implementation(s) in use, too.  For
example, maybe it's a Windows-vs-Linux thing?

> On the other hand, passing TCP connections thru a NAT is much easier
> then getting inbound UDP packets to get thru.

  Huh?  Every NAT implementation I've used in the past five years has
supported NAT of UDP.  What the heck are you using, Linux 2.0?  :)

  The main advantage I find with TCP is that in most IWF (Idiot With
Firewall) situations, TCP 80 is always open to everywhere.

-- Ben